Nor'hanger Abbey
by KosagiNoLegion
Summary: Sequel to Sense & Sensitivity: Heiji and Co. go ghost hunting.
1. A Hunting We Will Go

Nor'hanger Abbey 

A Detective Conan Fanfic   
By   
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown 

Acknowledgements:   
All usual disclaimers regarding ownership of Detective Conan and related characters apply. This stuff is copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho. 

Much thanks to Ysabet and Ryo Hoshi for their beta-reads, without which I'd probably have far too many spelling, continuity and grammatical errors. 

* * *

_Chapter 1: A Hunting We Will Go – In which Heiji discovers that seeing ghosts isn't necessarily an asset to ghost hunts. _

"Explain to me again why I'm letting you drag me here?" I glared at my companions – well, two of them, at least – and stuck my hands in my pockets sulkily. Over our heads was a tall building that loomed in the pale moonlight like Dracula's Castle. _And whose idea was it to choose the night of a full moon for this nonsense, anyway?_ I fully expected bats or some such to start swirling around one of the turrets any minute. 

"Oh, Heiji-kun. It's just a ghost hunt. Do you have any idea how much the tickets cost? It'll be fun," Kazuha chided me. My dear friend. My childhood friend. The only girl with whom I've spent more time with than her would be my mother. Kazuha was obviously finding my reluctance highly amusing. She wouldn't if she knew how I felt about ghosts, and why. "Anyway," she continued, "If _Ran_ is okay with coming here, then you – big bold brave Detective of the West Hattori Heiji," she poked me in the chest, "shouldn't be shaking in your boots like this." 

"Ahou," I muttered and stalked away. I wondered how she'd gotten Ran to agree in the first place. Ran doesn't like ghosts. It's the only thing I think I've ever seen her truly scared of. "I need some fresh air. You two go on in. I'll be there in a few minutes." I noted a small shadow detach itself from Ran and bounce along to follow me, but I ignored him in favor of making my way as far from the building as possible. Only when I'd reached a boulder set at the edge of the drive did I stop and park myself. 

The small shadow hopped up and sat quietly beside me for a long moment. I'll give Kudo I mean Conan, credit. He knows when to keep his mouth shut. Better than _I_ do, probably. Of course, given that he's had to hide his true self behind the mask of the child that he hasn't been for ten years, that's not surprising. He can't afford to let the Black Organization figure out that the drug they'd intended to kill him turned him to a little boy instead. 

"So, how _did_ Kazuha talk Ran into it?" I asked after a long moment of companionable silence. 

"She said that there's no real ghosts. It's just a fun get-together, a chance to test one's mettle." Conan said, not bothering with his usual little boy style now that we were in private. He looked up at the building. "Northanger Abbey. Brought over brick by brick from Scotland in the sixties. Inherited from her grandfather by the well-known horror actress Abe Hiromi. A woman whose fascination with the supernatural has led her to try every means she can to make contact with it." 

"Lovely." I leaned back on my hands and watched the building. It looked exactly like one of the haunted houses in all those old English Hammer films I used to watch as a boy. Not that that was what was bothering me. The problem was that the building not only _looked_ haunted, it _was_. My newly acquired 'talent' had shown me that before we'd gotten halfway up the drive. _No doubt Abe-san would be thrilled to know. Not that I plan to tell her. _

"I take it there's been no let-up on the symptoms?" Conan said sympathetically. Over a month ago I'd come into contact with the Black Organization myself and now I had my own little problem. Accidentally drugged with another of their experiments, one intended to increase psychic abilities, I could see the dead. 

"Nope. Did you know," I added sourly, "that the dead far outnumber the living?" 

Conan gave me a look. "Not everybody who dies becomes a ghost, surely?" I knew Ai, his companion in misery owing to the same drug he'd been given, was certain I was merely visualizing old memories rather than seeing real ghosts, but Conan – at least – was willing to accept _my_ opinion on the matter. 

I sighed. "Nah. Near as I can tell, the ones I'm seeing are the ones who were most distressed by dying." I looked at him. "You know we had a field trip to Nagasaki last week?" At Conan's widened eyes I managed a grin. I didn't have to be psychic to know what he was thinking. "It wasn't that bad," I told him, though my voice shook slightly at the memory. "I knew what I was going to see. And it's been a while now. The longer the ghost's been dead, the less obvious they are to me. I can ignore them fairly easily." 

"Still" 

"No, what really spooked me was ground zero." I gazed at the moon, remembering. That cold moment of realization at the very center of where the Americans had dropped the second bomb. "Oh, there were ghosts in the area. Not many, but I don't think it's possible for any place to go without a violent death in forty plus years." 

Conan frowned. "Then what?" 

"It was empty. The edges were crowded with ghosts. I had a hard time avoiding them, in fact. But the center, the utter center, was as empty and still as the face of the moon." I looked down at him and grinned wanly. "They all died so fast. So utterly and absolutely fast that they never had time to regret. Never had time to feel it. One second alive. The next" I snapped my fingers, "gone." Taking a deep breath, I got to my feet. "So I suppose that, after that, I shouldn't let myself be spooked by a haunted house game. Even if the house really _is_ haunted." 

***

_He watched the two coming up the walkway with a mixture of amusement and chagrin. This was going to be a hard job with these two here. Admittedly, he didn't know the Osaka-ko very well, but all reports said the Great Detective of the West was Kudo's equal. Circumstances were going to make matters even harder, even riskier. Kudo had never known his daylight persona, had never had an opportunity to meet him in his real identity. Keeping the truth out of the light was going to be difficult. _Still, that's part of the job, right? Risk._ He grinned. _

_***_

Ran and Kazuha had gone in already when the two of us reached the entrance. The woman in white who'd made me realize just what I was in for earlier was still wandering about wringing her hands. She was a _very_ old ghost, barely visible even to my talent. She'd been pretty, though, and I wondered what her story was. Not that I was curious enough to try and touch her to find out. The other aspect of my ability: I pick up bits of information from people – living and dead – if I touch them, something I avoid as much as I possibly can. 

There was an old, old man at the doorway waiting for us. Hunched, lank white hair tinged a dirty yellow, face a city map of wrinkles. Exactly the sort of person I'd expect to find in a place like this. If anything, he was almost too good to be true. From Conan's rolled eyes, I could tell he agreed with me. 

"The young ladies have gone on to the sitting room," the old man said in a thin, hoarse and quavering voice. "They said for you to join them there, young masters." Picking up a candelabra, he turned to walk down a long, darkened hallway. In the shadows I could make out wooden panels, faint glints of gold, a hint of scarlet and sapphire. The details were obscured, but there was a sense of opulence, a feeling that – in full sunlight – the brilliance of the furnishings would be blinding. Abe-san was one rich lady. 

"C'mon, Heiji-niichan!" Conan headed down the hall after the old man. For someone with significantly shorter legs than mine, he moves pretty darn fast. I broke my reverie and hurried after. 

The hall was long. Long enough that the lights from the old man's candles couldn't reach the other end. We hadn't quite reached halfway when the first moaning started. "Lady Susan," the old man said. "Killed in the eighteenth century by a spurned lover." He paused for effect, the light pooling around us. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of movement. A pale shrouded object floating past us and into the darkness. 

I yawned. So this was what it was going to be. A bunch of faked up ghosts to make up for the fact that what few real ones were there weren't readily viewable. Conan glanced at me and took my reaction as a guideline. Though he jumped and started, I could tell it lacked enthusiasm. 

"C'mon," I growled at the old man. "It's been a long trip here, your boss' chauffeur is a hopeless driver and I want to sit down and take a load off before bedtime. Not to mention I'm _starved_. I wait much longer for supper and _I'll_ be the one haunting this place." 

The old man surprised me by not seeming to be bothered by the fact that I was taking the hauntings in stride. He simply moved on, though not very fast, passing some busts set high above us that decided to turn their heads just as we were passing them. I ignored it as studiously as I had 'Lady Susan' and continued on. _C'mon. I've been to Disneyland. That trick's old hat now._ All they had to do was carve a face into a concavity and keep the thing up out of reach to get a spooky, but not particularly difficult effect. 

One cold spot, a light ball or so and a full torsal apparition later and I was getting not only blasé, but over-confident. I could handle this. After all, most of it was fake and the few real ghosts all had to be old and fading, right? 

As we approached the sitting room, I discovered just how wrong I was 

*** 

_Watching Hattori's behavior puzzled him. Oh, it was no surprise that he was unimpressed by the special effects. Abe-san's methods were obvious to a skilled observer. What really interested him, though, was how Conan seemed to be taking the Osaka-ko's reactions. It was almost as if he was following the 'older' boy's lead. As if Hattori knew something that Conan didn't or couldn't. When Hattori had fallen on his rear with a tiny, terrified, whimper, the young detective's face as pale as possible under his Osaka tan, he knew beyond a doubt that there was something very odd going on. _

*** 

Standing between the three of us and the doorway was a large dog. Black as the blackest coal, it ought not to have been visible, for the light from the candles hadn't reached it. I knew, though, that I was seeing it with a different sort of vision. A vision that needed no light to discern every muscular line of its body. Even if I hadn't realized that much, I would have known it for a ghost. It had no head. 

A sense of something hot and raging overwhelmed me and before I knew it, I'd dropped backwards, tripped and landed on my tailbone. Fortunately for my state of mind, if not for my reputation, the dog was gone in the second or so it'd taken for me to recover, otherwise I'd have been having hysterics. I looked up at the other two and shook off the old man's offer of a hand up. I wasn't wearing my gloves and the last thing I needed was to find out what kind of dark secrets he was hiding. "I'm okay," I said, standing and glanced down at Conan, who raised a curious brow. "Tripped," I explained. Conan's curiosity would have to wait until no one else could hear me. "Sorry 'bout that." I resettled my hat, using the moment to recover my composure. 

"Oh dear. I should have the maid check the floors. Perhaps she did not clean the wax properly." To my relief, the old man accepted my explanation. He gave me a nervous smile and went to the sitting room door. Pushing it open to reveal a place of light, warmth and life, he bowed to us as we entered. "If sirs will excuse me, I should be getting back to my duties now, Heidi will be escorting you to supper, then to your rooms. Your baggage, of course, will have been brought up already." He turned and left, limping slowly away while I watched him curiously. He seemed almost too good to be true. 

Conan looked at me. "Think he's an actor?" he asked, echoing my thoughts, and I nodded. No one could be _that_ perfectly suited to the environment. 

"Hey, Heiji! You going to stand there and stare? Come in and be introduced!" Kazuha's voice broke into my thoughts and forced me to turn. It's amazing how much like a fishwife she can sound when she wants to. "That girl's going to make some man miserable one day," I muttered to Conan. 

"Oh _really?_" he asked in an irritatingly amused voice, brow raised in obvious amusement. 

I glared at him. "Oh really." Okay, so maybe I won't be completely miserable, but there's no way I'm going to admit that. Hell, we're still in high school. For all I know, she'll find someone else to inflict herself on that she likes better. _And won't that make me even more miserable._ I cut that thought process short. Admissions like that aren't part of the reputation, after all. 

"HEIJI!" 

"Hai, hai!" Stepping into the sitting room in response to Kazuha's yell, I looked around and frowned. The first person I laid eyes on was an older woman, heavy set if not actually fat, with blonde dyed hair and sour pursed lips, a brightly colored scarf adorning her neck with a big sapphire colored stone pinned to it. "Oh great. Not _her_ again!" I remembered her only too well from a case Conan and I had solved some time back. Maria Toda, a fortune-teller and Sherlock Holmes fan. She apparently liked haunted houses too.

Glancing at the rest of the group, I saw a young gaijin couple obviously more interested in each other than the furnishings. The girl was a red-head, pretty in a vapid sort of way and the boy was tall and gawky, with a short brush of blonde hair. Across from them, looking like he didn't want to be there at all, was an older man – tall, salt-and-pepper grey hair and a small goatee – who almost had to be a professor or doctor of some sort. He was doing his best to make his companion – a young man just five or six years older than Kudo and I – miserable. The short, wispy fellow was looking a trifle bedraggled, his suit was wrinkled like he'd slept in it and his dark hair was tousled. 

Deciding that introductions could wait, I looked further around to find Kazuha and Ran. The girls, of course, had found themselves a third crony to hang out with. They could have been old friends, from the way they were giggling over something, but I'd never seen the girl before. Slim, dark brown hair and reasonably pretty, she smiled over at us in a friendly way. 

"This is Nakamori Aoko," Kazuha said, making the introductions. "She's here with one of her friends." 

"Yeah, and I wish he'd quit poking around and come back," Aoko-kun said sourly. "Kaito is such a nuisance." 

"Eh, and what makes you think I'm anywhere but here?" The voice came out of the statue to my left and might have made me jump if it hadn't been for the fact that it was very real and alive. Besides, my 'talent' had never included audible phenomena before. I glanced casually around and saw nothing. When I looked back, however, a young man was standing behind Aoko, leaning on her with a huge grin and a bunch of fake flowers in his hand. "Hey." 

"Kuroba Kaito, you stop that right now. It's bad enough you interfere with school this way. Can't we have one trip without your silly magic tricks?" Aoko looked peeved and I could see her hand clenching as if she were trying to grab something that wasn't there. 

Kuroba's grin only broadened. "Ahhh, you have no romance, Aoko." He bowed to the girls and as he straightened drew some white and sweet scented objects from thin air, presenting them to Ran and Kazuha. "At your service, Kusukawa-san, Mouri-san." 

Every hackle on the back of my neck rose and I glared at the guy. Roses. _White_ roses, for gods' sake! Kazuha's pleased expression didn't make me any happier. I was tempted to grab the things from his hand when Conan sneezed several times. "Oh I'm sorry, Kuroba-san," he gasped, sniffling and sneezing again. "I guess I'm 'llergic." 

"Oh." Kuroba's expression was a mixture of chagrin and amusement. "Really? I'll put them away, then." 

I made a mental note to thank Conan, both for blocking Kuroba's little gesture and for distracting me. Grabbing the roses would have been risky, not just because of my little 'talent' but because it would have looked bad. I didn't want to offend Kazuha by making her think I considered her my territory. _Not to mention I don't want to put ideas in her little head. Yet._

Glancing at Aoko, I noted that she was holding on to her temper by a bare thread. From Kuroba's faintly delighted expression I would bet that he'd played that little game as much to pull her chain as to pull mine. _And why do I have this odd feeling he's pulling Conan's too?_ It made no sense, though. As far as Kuroba knew, Conan was just a kid, too young to have feelings for girls Ran's age. Yet his short, sharp, glance downward told me he was checking Conan's reaction as well as mine. 

"I'm sorry," Aoko said after Kuroba had disposed of the flowers somewhere. "Kaito's always pulling pranks like that. He likes to live dangerously." 

"Gotta practice," Kuroba grinned and seemed about to say more when a young woman stepped out of the door across the way. Dressed in a maid's outfit, I suspected she must be the woman the old man had called Heidi. Platinum blonde hair cut in a short bob was held back by a single black ribbon and she wore a short black dress with a frilly white apron. The legs revealed by her outfit were – well, stunning is the only way to put it. 

Kazuha's elbow nudged its way sharply into my ribs. "Quit drooling," she growled at me. "I can't take you anywhere." I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment and forced myself to look at the woman's face instead of her many assets. Didn't help much, though. She had perfect skin, huge blue eyes and bowed lips. _Another one too good to be true._ I noted Conan's wide-eyed expression with amusement, but refrained from commenting. Ran would _not_ approve. Besides, he could easily have been looking at the faint smear of greasepaint that was hidden just at the edge of her collar. Its color was pinkish-grey and a small suspicion niggled at me. 

Bowing to the group, the woman held the door wide. "Good evening, sirs and madams. Dinner is ready to be served. If you will accompany me to the dining room?" 

*** 

_The by-play between himself and the two detectives was risky, but fun. Teasing Conan especially had been easy, because the little shrimp didn't dare show his real reaction to having someone offer his girl a pretty flower. _Though I admit he did a good job of covering for it with that sneeze. Allergic indeed._ As for Hattori, that one had been more than satisfactory, the way his hackles had raised. Distraction. Keep them distracted by the minutiae and hopefully they wouldn't notice anything else about him. It worked with Aoko, if not Hakuba, after all. But then Hakuba was as tenacious as the English Bulldog._

To Be Continued...


	2. The Usual Suspects

Nor'hanger Abbey   
A Detective Conan Fanfic   
By   
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown 

Acknowledgements:   
All usual disclaimers regarding ownership of Detective Conan and related characters apply. This stuff is copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho. 

Much thanks to Ysabet and Ryo Hoshi for their beta-reads, without which I'd probably have far too many spelling, continuity and grammatical errors. 

* * *

_Chapter 2: The Usual Suspects: In which entirely too much food is served._

Dinner was an elaborate affair, very suitable to the house and its décor. A long table covered in fine linen and set with silver and gold-rimmed china stood in the middle of a dining hall as elaborately ornamented as the rest of the house had been. On each plate was a small folded ivory-colored card marked with beautiful hand-written calligraphy – both English and Japanese – bearing the guests' names in bright gold ink. 

The youngest of the group were all placed together at the lower end of the table. "Below the salt," I muttered in English. 

My comment got a surprised and mildly confused look from the professor type. I gave him a raised brow, and his sour look softened a bit as the younger man leaned over and whispered in his ear, "You see, Nakamura-sensei? Not all teenagers are ignorant little nuisances. He knows English history." He was trying to be discreet about it, but the Professor was apparently a trifle deaf, forcing his assistant to speak up in order to be heard. He smiled a bit apologetically at the rest of us. "The Professor is an expert on English archeology so he's naturally a bit concerned over how badly the subject of English History is taught in our schools," he explained, and immediately had to soothe the older man. Apparently the concern was the subject of a favorite rant. 

"Below the salt?" Ran murmured to me, questioningly while Nakamura's assistant tried to quiet him down. 

"That's where the lower class people had to eat in England," Conan said, smiling up at Ran. "But I dunno why Heiji-niichan said it." 

I raised a brow at the kid. He was doing a good job of covering for himself, answering the general question, but not the specifics. Ran smiled at him with that fond amusement she gets when she thinks he's being cutely adult. "Oh, I see. Heiji-niichan means that he thinks we've been put at the foot of the table because we're just kids." 

"Honestly, Heiji," Kazuha grumbled at me. "Why don't you just say what you mean? And it isn't a big deal, anyway. You really need better manners." 

"Like you're going to teach them to me?" I demanded, making a circle around the table in order to read the names before sitting at my assigned place like a good little monkey. The younger man had to be Fujiwara Akio, sitting beside Nakamura Genta, while the couple had to be James and Sarah Aden. 

Ran helped Conan into his seat as I settled into the one across from him. _That has got to be humiliating,_ I thought to myself, and was suddenly very glad that I had to touch someone to read anything about them. I really didn't want to know how much it bothered Kudo to have his girl treating him like a little kid. Even if he _was_ one to her eyes. 

A hand patting my knee drew my attention sideways and I realized I'd been placed beside the fortuneteller. I glared at her, recognizing the gesture as simply a Westerner's way of being motherly, but not particularly pleased with it in any event. "You're a troubled young man," she said softly. "Perhaps we should discuss it in private sometime." 

I thought I was going to choke, especially when Kuroba started giggling. Fortunately, his girlfriend bopped him a good one, silencing him while I answered, as politely as possible, "Er Sorry. I'm not really into fortune-telling." 

She blinked at me. "Really? Strange. I see the signs in you. They were there when we met before, but now Now they are so much stronger." 

Glancing over at Conan, I saw his eyes widen and felt a sharp surge of fear. It was possible that she was simply dramatizing herself, even possible that she really did have some talent as a fortune-teller. The trouble was, she might also be part of the Black Organization, and the last thing I wanted was for them to realize that I was the one who'd broken into their lab last month. 

Fortunately, I was saved by the sound of a man's voice from the doorway. "Miss Abe begs your indulgence, but she has been called away on a matter of great importance regarding her latest acquisition." The newcomer was middle-aged, dressed in an expensive silk suit, and had the look of someone in the legal profession. His next words confirmed my impression. "I am Wanabe Shiro, Miss Abe's legal representative. She has asked me to handle the introductions and the festivities planned for tomorrow." 

"I really don't care about festivities," Nakamura-sensei answered sourly. "I came to see the artifact." 

"Artifact?" Kuroba asked, lounging in his seat. "What artifact?" 

Smoothly, Wanabe shook his head. "I'm afraid that is private business, young man," he murmured regretfully. "Professor, for the sake of security, I must ask you not to discuss the matter further." 

Nakamura-sensei huffed. He clearly didn't appreciate the insinuation that he couldn't keep a secret. Still, he subsided, leaving the rest of us to our curiosity, and Wanabe continued, "Tonight Miss Abe's chefs have prepared a simple meal for you, since it's rather late. Once you've eaten, you'll be shown to your rooms. Tomorrow I'll be guiding anyone interested through the castle and tomorrow evening anyone who'd like to will have permission to choose an area of the castle to investigate for supernatural phenomena." From his expression, Wanabe clearly didn't approve of the last, but he continued. "Miss Abe has recording equipment for all of you to use and hopes that you will have a great deal of success in making contact with those who haunt this place." 

I forced myself not to make a sour face. Before I'd met up with the ghost hound I might have been willing to give the hunt a try. Now, all I wanted was to stay where there was warmth and light and people. Light didn't prevent my ghosts from showing themselves, but it was a helluva lot less unnerving facing a dead thing in the middle of a lighted room than it was in darkness, when every shadowy motion might be something long dead. "So," I said, "When do we eat?" 

One of the smaller doors leading into the dining hall opened and Heidi came in pushing a tray of covered dishes. "Right now," Wanabe said, gesturing. "I've dined already, so I'll be leaving you now. Professor, we can discuss matters when Abe-san returns." 

*** 

_The failure to hear more about the artifact was disappointing, but hardly unexpected. He'd have to see about listening in on Wanabe and Nakamura-sensei's conversation – especially since he wasn't yet sure the thing would be worth bothering with. Until he was, there wasn't much point to putting a lot of effort into checking the place out for its security. _And tomorrow's fun and games will be a perfect time to do so._ He watched the others with a grin, still puzzling a bit over the mystery Hattori Heiji presented. He had no doubt Hattori was as bright as represented, but that faint edge of something else, of something he was keeping as close and secret as Conan kept his true identity as Kudo hidden, kept flickering at the edges. _And if there's anything I don't like, it's letting other people's secrets alone. Especially when they might affect me.

*** 

I dropped on my back with a *woof* of overstuffed pleasure. Dinner had been in the western style, with a large cut of prime rib, potatoes and broccoli. I'd eaten, according to Kazuha, like a pig, and was beginning to feel the effects. Fortunately, she wasn't there to scold me further as I undid my belt and sighed. I hoped the girls were comfortable in their room. More so than I was going to be in this one. Above me, ever so faintly, I could see a body hanging from the rafter. We _would_ get a room where some damnfool soul had decided to suicide. _Fifteenth century?_ I wondered. The dress style suggested it. 

"Wow. You really put it away, Heiji," Conan said, perching on his bed. 

"Yeah, well so did you. Another growth spurt?" 

Sourly, Conan grumbled, "I can only hope. I was short for years the first time around." 

I knew how he felt. I hadn't gained my present height until I was a teenager. _At least I don't have to go through that twice,_ I thought to myself. "Hey, Ku Conan." 

He sighed, "Would you _please_ not do that? What is it?" 

I glanced at him with an embarrassed expression. I really was going to have to get that habit out of my system. I'd convinced Ran that I was calling him Kudo as a joke because he was almost as smart as her missing friend. "Sorry," I muttered. "I was just wondering Did you notice the same thing I did about Heidi?" 

"Aside from her being stacked?" he gave me one of his patented 'looks'. "Yeah. She put her hose on too quick." 

"She had a bit of greasepaint just under her collar." 

"That hair is obviously a wig." 

"And our hostess is known to do her own make-up." 

We looked at each other with identical grins and said, in unison, "She was the old man. And probably is Abe-san." 

I laughed, glad to be able to talk with Conan as Kudo without having to worry about his secret. I doubted I'd ever tell him, or that I even needed to, but it meant a lot to have someone around who knew how my mind worked and to whom I didn't have to explain the facts in slow and patient detail. _I just wish it wasn't necessary to pretend in front of people. That Ai would find a cure, so we could go to town on the bad-guys without my having to cover for Conan's brilliance._

Thinking about Ai made me ask, "Oi, Conan? That mutual friend of ours ever tell you what the stuff you and she got was supposed to do?" 

"No. She's been pretty quiet on that count. I've got a few guesses. Ten years is a long time for a lab animal. Maybe the reason they thought it wasn't working was because it takes you back too far?" Conan moved to sit cross-legged on the pillows near me, so he could speak more quietly. 

"Disappeared, maybe?" I wondered what happened to the part of Shinichi that had been wiped away in creating Conan. Where did it go, and where did it come from when he'd changed back those few times? Thinking about it made my head hurt. 

Conan nodded. "That's my guess," he admitted, and his expression grew distant. "'Trying to bring the dead against the stream of time'"(1) 

"Eh?" 

"That's what they're up to, according someone they were forcing to work for them." He put his chin on his fist and looked thoughtful. "Y'know. That might just fit in with your experience, too." 

I nodded slowly, beginning to have some inkling of what they might be up to and not liking it at all. From Conan's expression, he didn't either. I sighed. "Until we have more facts, though, I don't think there's much we can do about it. For now, let's just get a good night's sleep and find out what horrors Abe-san has for us tomorrow." 

"Speaking of which, what was up just before we entered the sitting room?" My expression must have showed the sour annoyance I was feeling, because Conan grimaced and added, "A real one?" 

"Very. Black dog. No head and very, very angry. I have some niggling memory of something like that" 

"Hound of the Baskervilles," Conan said, questioningly, and I remembered his fondness for Sherlock Holmes. 

Shaking my head, I shrugged. "No. You know I prefer Ellery Queen, anyway. That's part of the memory, but No, it's just not coming back to me right now. Something I read when I was a kid, I think." I could see the words Black Dog in English, but I had so many English readers in my shelves that figuring out which one it'd come from was going to take a while. 

"Oh." Conan bounced off the bed and went to his suitcase. "Oh, yeah, before I forget. The professor had a couple of things he wanted to give you." I sat up and watched him toss things around as he searched the bottom of his bag. "Ah, here we are." He held out a watch and a pair of sunglasses. "Remember all those tests he ran last time you were up? He had some ideas based on them that might help you." 

I raised a brow. They looked perfectly normal to me, but I knew how good Agasa-hakase was at making little toys that looked like nothing and did everything. I'd complained jokingly once to Conan that Agasa loved him more than me. _Not that I have any reason to expect otherwise. Shinichi grew up around him. I'm just that bratty kid from Osaka._ Taking the watch, I examined it curiously before sliding it on. "What do they do?" 

Conan touched a button on the edge of the watch and I felt the hair stand on my arm. "Shake my hand." 

"Huh? But" 

Before I could stop him, Conan grabbed my hand and I was stunned not to be inundated with impressions. Oh, a few faint images brushed through my mind, but they were so weak as to be unreadable. "Oh. I see." I noted that the effect made me feel a bit like I was getting a mild static charge. "So I can shake someone's hand without worrying about getting more than I wanted." That was cool. It'd been hard to avoid skin to skin contact with people this last summer. "How do you switch it on and off?" 

"This way." Conan showed me the buttons. "He's working on a bracelet you could wear on the other wrist, but since you don't wear jewelry, it's going to have to be something pretty unobtrusive. Unless you want Kazuha to think you're going nuts?" 

"She already thinks that," I said absently. I'd done my best in the last month to hide the truth from her, but we grew up together. She couldn't help but notice a change. _And I don't have Conan's advantage of Ran not knowing he's Shinichi. Besides, I'd swear Ran-chan's beginning to suspect as well._ "What about the glasses?" I asked, returning to the present. 

"Simple. You can't afford to be distracted by what you see when you're biking. These have a life sensor in them. It picks up the bioelectric fields that surround living things. You'll be able to see if what you're looking at is alive or not." 

I put them on and looked at Conan. The faint line of light around him was just barely enough for me to see, which was good because I couldn't afford the distraction. Then I looked up. "You can tell him it works then." I could see our ghostly friend up there, her body swaying slightly in a non-existent breeze, but – unlike Conan – it wasn't limned with a thin glow. "Would you thank him for me? I've needed something like these things bad." I'd had to stay off my bike in the last month and was getting stir-crazy. 

"One's up there? Is it nasty?" Conan peered up at the ceiling above us with a frown. 

"Nah. Another old one and nothing compared to that damned dog. We've seen worse corpses." I shrugged. "Let's get some sleep, Conan. Tomorrow's going to be a pain, I think." I turned off the watch – its field would drive me crazy if I kept it going all the time. Folding the glasses, I put them on the table between Conan's bed and mine and rolled my still over-fed body into a better position for sleeping. 

*** 

_As the building quieted down for the night he slipped out for a bit of pre-festivity exploration. The former Abbey was huge, one of the biggest homes he'd ever had the pleasure of casing, and he wanted to make use of every minute available. It came as no surprise to find Abe-san's devices in full operation, but it was easy to avoid the things and even easier to avoid their host's other security measures. _Even if it isn't the Pandora Gem I might just go after the whatsis just to show her how lax she's being. This place would be a piece of cake for a determined amateur, much less a professional like me. 

To Be Continued...

Authorial Notes:   
(1) This is from one of the manga scans at Jane's "Detective Conan" site. http://www.conan.esmartkid.com/. Specifically "White Snow, Black Shadow".


	3. Into The Night

Nor'hanger Abbey   
A Detective Conan Fanfic   
By   
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown 

Acknowledgements:   
All usual disclaimers regarding ownership of Detective Conan and related characters apply. This stuff is copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho. 

Much thanks to Ysabet and Ryo Hoshi for their beta-reads, without which I'd probably have far too many spelling, continuity and grammatical errors. 

* * *

_Chapter 3 : Into The Night – In which Heiji discovers the hazards of exploring haunted houses. _

I opened my eyes on near complete darkness. In the other bed I could hear small burbling snores, telling me Conan was still pretty deeply asleep. I, on the other hand, was quite thoroughly awake, a little trip being called for. _Far too much good food. That'll teach me to drink all that ice tea. Now, where was the bathroom again?_ I wondered and recollected Heidi pointing out the door on our way through the abbey's darkened halls. 

Climbing out of bed, I slid a pair of slippers on and made my way quietly to the door. "Mphm?" Conan muttered, turning over in bed. 

"Emergency trip," I muttered back, opening the door. 

"Mnhghim," he acknowledged coherently and went back to sleep. 

In the darkness of the hallway I waited until my vision had settled, then started towards the door I remembered being pointed at. The bathroom beyond was as opulent as the rest of the house, so much so that its brilliance nearly blinded me when I flipped on the switch. I regarded the elaborate plumbing sourly. Somehow I had a feeling I'd just get myself in trouble trying to figure it all out, so I did my business quickly and left. I was just headed back to my room when I thought I heard something down the hall the other way. 

I paused. I was near the head of a large staircase and the sound came from somewhere downstairs. Looking into the hall below, all I could see was shadows, but I could hear something moving around. I hesitated, and cursed myself for doing so. Hattori Heiji of over a month ago wouldn't have paused, wouldn't have even considered going back to bed when something was up. He wouldn't have stopped to think about getting Conan either, but I was doing all three. _I refuse. I utterly refuse to let this – problem – turn my life inside out._ I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life quivering in corners because I could see ghosts, no matter how tempting it might be. With a snarl, I started down. 

At the foot of the stairs was an barrel shaped object filled with sticks. A cane rack of some sort. I slid one out. My 'talent' didn't affect my hearing, after all, so any sound was coming from a non-supernatural source. The creaking that came from down the hall sounded to me like someone attempting to move as silently as possible on floors that weren't cooperating. 

Going down the long hall towards the entrance to the building, I peered through bands of moonlight that streamed down from the small windows set into the roof. The moon hadn't been in a position to create the effect before and I again felt - and again cursed – that impulse that made me want to turn around and go back. Another creak ahead decided me, though, and I went forward instead. A minute later a shadow was coming at me from amongst the moonbeams. A shadow swinging something long and heavy at my head. 

*** 

_The sound of fighting drew him down the great hall, partly out of curiosity and partly because he'd seen Hattori wandering down that way. He wasn't sure what was up, but if nothing else this would be an opportunity to check the Osaka-ko out further. He got to the fight just in time to realize what was going on and nearly betrayed himself with a fit of giggles. _

*** 

I dodged sideways, the cane I was carrying coming up in a parry automatically. As the sound of wood striking wood rang through the hallway I felt something slap the back of my head. Something that smelled – just faintly – of cleaning fluid. _A mop?_

"Kuroba Kaito, you jerk! How dare you play" The voice was that of the girl we'd met earlier, "Hey You never fight back" Aoko stepped back and stared at me, the moonlight revealing her dressed in striped pajamas and her expression turning from anger to chagrin. "You you're not" 

I stepped further into the light. "Lady, if that's how you treat your friends, gods help your enemies." I paused and added, with less rancor, "Though, admittedly, hitting Kuroba over the head with a mop might just knock some sense into him." 

Aoko-san giggled. "Only if I manage to hit him. He dodges." 

"Of course I do. You don't think I'm going to stand still for getting a face full of mop, do you?" Kuroba's voice came from amid the shadows and he stepped out a minute later. "Hey, Aoko, I wasn't following er Hey, don't" The mop swung at him sharply. "Honest, I wasn't trying to scare you." He dodged around me, the two dancing to a tune I suspected had been playing for most of their lives. 

"_Ano_ Guys!" I tried to interrupt as Aoko's mop thrust past me to nearly strike Kuroba. He laughed and I sensed his motion to the other side. _Oh great._ I stood stock still, holding my cane at ready just in case Aoko's control of her weapon failed her. Sooner or later one of them was sure to tire. _I feel like I'm in some sort of Hong Kong Kung-fu comedy._ "GUYS!" 

"C'mon, Aoko! I mean it. I was worried. I heard you go out and thought you might get in trouble!" Kuroba's voice was plaintive through the laughter. "Aoko!" 

As the fight continued, I felt a surge of something again and I looked further down the hall. Something about the way I did so must have drawn Aoko's attention, because she stopped and turned to look that way as well. Her shriek of terror sent her straight into my arms, though I rather suspected it would have been Kuroba's if I hadn't been in the way. Amid the shadows, entire body radiating rage and fury, was that damned dog again, its image projected so strongly and with such power that even those not normally sensitive was seeing it. "Now I remember," I muttered. "The Black Dog. It only appears when there's going to be a death." 

*** 

_He nearly took exception to Aoko ending up in Hattori's arms. If it hadn't been for the undeniable presence of some Thing down the hall, he would have. Fortunately for the status quo, however, he found himself silenced utterly by the sight of a headless dog standing there and watching them with a raging fury so deep that all humor was lost to a moment of terror. Only the fact that he'd spent the last year or so dealing with more mundane terrors like capture or worse allowed him to keep his silence. Not that Hattori's comment, said so calmly and with such chill certainty, helped matters. _He's not surprised. Scared, but not surprised. WHY?

*** 

"Only appears when there's going to be a death?" Conan mused, as he dressed. "And you say Aoko saw it?" Sunlight streamed through our window, lighting the comfortably mundane furniture and banishing the last shadows of last night's terror. 

"Kuroba too. It was very solid that time." I settled my hat on my head with a sharp tug and watched Conan get his bowtie in order. "I read about it in one of my readers when I was learning English. Hauntings and Horrors: A Book of British Ghosts.(1)" 

"Leave it to you to choose a book of ghost stories as a reader," Conan grumbled. "So, what kind of ghost is it?" 

I frowned, shaking my head. "Not like the ones I usually see. Do you know anything about banshees?" At Conan's confused look, I continued. "A family spirit that would warn when there was going to be a death. Except the Black Dog would appear to anyone." I felt a sharp chill and covered it up with a grin. "If it really is an omen, Conan, they're going to stop inviting us anywhere, since no matter where we go there's a murder." 

"Not funny," Conan said, but with a lot less sternness than he might have, since he probably guessed how I was feeling right at that moment. "Though I admit, they do follow us, don't they?" 

"Yeah." I slipped my new glasses into my jacket pocket. "So, what do you think of Kuroba?" 

"Class clown, but There's something" I looked over at Conan and nodded in agreement. There was something that guy was hiding. I just didn't know if it mattered. Everyone has secrets, after all. 

A rap on the door made me grin. Kazuha's knock was unmistakable, especially when she was out of sorts with me. I'd heard Kuroba talking up a storm outside, eliciting angry responses from Aoko. _Though I swear she's madder about ending up in my arms for a moment than the fact that she was scared by a ghost._ When it came to that, I wondered if I'd seen a faint sense of relief on Kuroba's face when she'd slapped me afterwards, more from reaction than real need to reprimand me. "Coming Kazuha," I called. "We're about ready." 

My friend's expression was exactly what I expected it to be. Sour and annoyed. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring up at me like a small cat ready to spit. "Hattori Heiji. What's this I hear about you grabbing poor Aoko-chan and feeling her up?" Behind her, Ran was looking nervously around and I hoped Kuroba hadn't exaggerated the Black Dog too much for her. 

I scratched the back of my head. Typical of Kazuha to take that approach. "Not arguing about it, Kazuha," I told her. "You weren't there. You don't know what happened." I found myself regretting, sharply, that it hadn't been Kazuha instead and something in my expression made her pause and put out a hand momentarily. "C'mon, let's go get breakfast," I told her, though I didn't brush the hand away quite as quickly as I might have. 

*** 

_He watched Hattori and Conan come out without a change of expression, though with a sharpening of interest. _What, I wonder, has he been telling Kudo?_ It was too bad the walls were so thick in this place. He'd have tried for some eavesdropping, if it weren't for the fact that the only places where that would be possible would have been outside the window and at the door. The window would have been easy enough, but not when Aoko had rousted him out of bed at an ungodly hour and knew exactly where he was. He'd have to wait until she was distracted to do anything out of the ordinary._

*** 

Breakfast was as elaborate and as filling as supper, but I'd lost some of my appetite after last night's fun and games. It was only because I knew Kazuha would worry that I ate as much as I did. 

Oddly enough, Maria Toda wasn't at the table, a fact that obviously concerned Heidi. Since the lady's room had been on the other side of the building, though, none of us 'children' could tell her where the fortune-teller might be. It bothered me, though, and I commented, dryly, "Funny, she doesn't look like the sort to miss her breakfast." 

Kazuha elbowed me in the ribs, but Conan met my eyes with an understanding expression. Maybe if I hadn't seen the Black Dog, if I hadn't known what its presence usually meant, I wouldn't have worried so much. "Maybe someone should go check on her," Conan said softly. "She might not be feeling well." 

"Yes yes, I think so." Heidi headed off in a hurry and I sighed. There really wasn't a good reason to follow her, since my concerns had no basis in common reality. Fortunately for our common interest, Conan had a good excuse for getting the two of us away from the breakfast table. Kids, after all, have pointed butts and it was easy for me to convince Ran that we'd be okay wandering the building together. If that wandering took us to Toda-san's room, well, what a coincidence, right? 

*** 

Curiouser and curiouser_ he thought, watching the two leave with identical expressions on their faces. The detectives were obviously on the scent of something and while he would admit that Maria Toda's failure to appear at breakfast was odd, their reaction to it seemed a trifle overdone, as if they knew something everyone else didn't. He remembered Hattori's words the night before and a chill touched his spine. _It only appears when there's going to be a death._ Making his own excuses, he escaped the breakfast table as well and went to follow._

*** 

Maria Toda's room was upstairs along the west wing, where we'd been in the east, a hall as beautifully decorated as ours was, with mirrors and paintings glittering in the light from the windows. I ignored the furnishings in favor of heading to Toda-san's room and looking in. It was also empty except for Heidi, who looked startled to find us standing at the door. "Sorry," I said. "We just wanted to look around and saw the door open. Is she all right?" 

Heidi looked troubled. "She's not here. You really should go back downstairs. Wanabe-san was going to show you all around together." She glanced around the room with a puzzled look. "I wonder where she is? So strange." 

I stepped into the room and glanced around myself, letting Conan past to do the same. A large suitcase was sitting on the single bed and the coverlet was pulled up in so neatly that I had to ask, "Does the room look the way it did last night?" 

Heidi frowned at the bed and nodded. "Well, yes, it does. The suitcase wasn't on the bed, though." She paused, lips pursing with annoyance at me. "Young man, you are very pushy. I really should make you leave." 

"Yeah, well tell me one thing before you do. Do you think it's normal for a guest to wander around all night and not show herself the next morning? Don't you think this justifies a bit of worry?" 

"Maybe it does," Heidi admitted. "But that doesn't make it right for you two boys to be poking around in here. Now come along." She herded the two of us out and right into Kuroba. "You too? What a bunch of nosy children you are." She pushed us out with a firm hand and closed the door, locking it behind her. "I'll go and have someone look around for her. You three go downstairs this minute. Shiro, I mean Wanabe-san, is probably waiting for you." Conan and I glanced at each other and nodded slightly. A maid wouldn't refer to the lawyer by his personal name that way. If she wasn't Abe-san I'd eat my hat. 

As Heidi waved us off I sighed and shambled down the stairs, Kuroba and Conan close behind. "You can quit imitating my walk, Kuroba," I growled as I did so. "It ain't funny." 

Kuroba stopped quickly and blinked innocently at me. "Don't know whatcha you mean," he answered and I was sourly amused by his effort to imitate my Osaka accent. I shrugged, I'd noticed the way he'd shoved his hands into his pockets and his reflection in the mirror as we'd passed. "So, d'you think something's wrong with Toda-san?" 

"She's missing, isn't she?" Conan asked in his most childishly innocent tone. 

With a shrug and a grin, Kuroba said tauntingly, "Well then, maybe she'll get to be one of the ghosts in this house." 

I couldn't help it. I snapped, moving at him with a growl and grabbing the front of his shirt. "That, Kuroba, is about the least funny things I've heard in a long" For the barest moment the skin of my hand brushed his chin and I drew back as if I'd been stung. Something It was too quick, his mind too twisted up in secrets upon secrets upon enigmas, for me to really comprehend flashed through my thoughts and made me realize what a risk I was taking. One image did come back with me. A gem, a brilliant, shining jewel that nearly broke the heart with its depth and ruby color. One image, and a sense of very real pain behind the smiling mask. "Leave me alone, Kuroba. I don't like you and I don't like your idea of jokes." I turned and walked away. 

*** 

_He watched Hattori leave with a stunned feeling. The Great Detective of the West had a soft point and it appeared to be ghosts. Yet it was a soft point he hesitated to use, and not just because of the fury it seemed to create. There'd been something in Hattori's eyes, an anguish that instinct warned him would be disastrous to waken further. Just as he knew better than to hint the truth of Shinichi's condition to Ran, he knew this was a weapon best saved only for the most desperate of needs. _And why why, why, _why_ do I have a strange feeling he nearly figured me out? How could he?_ A chill of fear touched his spine, along with an absolute determination to find out what it was Hattori hid, lest that secret end up becoming a risk to his own._

*** 

Downstairs I paused and leaned against a wall, taking several deep breaths. "You okay?" Conan asked, softly, eyes watchful behind us for our annoying fellow guest. 

"Yeah. It was just He has no idea Being able to see them." I clenched my fists and hit the wall. "I was really afraid I was going to see her in there. If I had If I had I think I'd have killed him for that crack." 

Conan shook his head. "No, you wouldn't kill him. That's not your style. Punch his annoying lights out, on the other hand" I looked at him and grinned ruefully. "And I wouldn't have blamed you for it, either." 

Steps on the stairs told me that Kuroba was probably headed our way so I continued on, hurrying back to the others before the twerp could try another pass at me. Conan trotted beside me, saying softly, "Wonder why he followed us in the first place? I mean, he doesn't strike me as the sort to go poking his nose into other people's business." 

I frowned, Conan was right about that. "Don't know. Let's keep an eye on him." Opening the door to the dining room I realized we'd returned just in time. Wanabe-san was just preparing to start the tour. With muttered apologies to the girls, we re-joined the group and prepared to be bored. _Though if something _has _happened to Toda-san then we should be looking out for clues. _

*** 

_He joined the tour just as it was leaving the dining room, receiving a glare of irritation from both Nakamura-sensei and Wanabe. Hattori, on the other hand, avoided looking at him in a way that said the Great Detective of the West had decided to ignore him. _Which is fine with me, because if he's too busy ignoring me then he may not notice me keeping an eye on_ him_._ He wasn't going to depend on that, though. He'd overheard the two boys' conversation when they'd thought he was still upstairs. It was obvious they suspected him. _What isn't obvious is what he meant about seeing 'them'._ An idea was beginning to form though. One almost as unbelievable as the truth he'd learned about Conan and Kudo Shinichi._

*** 

The rest of the day would have been a boring one if Conan and I weren't engaged in a combination cat and mouse game with Kuroba along with our effort to determine what had happened to Maria Toda. Without evidence of any foul play, I knew we'd never convince Wanabe to do anything, even though her disappearance raised every alarm bell the two of us possessed. 

As we wandered through the halls of the Abbey I felt almost awed by the amount of time and energy Abe-san had put into recreating the lifestyle of a British noble. Time, energy and quite a bit of cold, hard, cash. The place was beautiful, in an overdone sort of way, gleaming with scarlet, dark polished wood and gold paint amid sparkling mirrors. It was gorgeous and overwhelming in a lot of ways and I could see Kazuha's eyes lighting up as each new treasure was revealed. It amused me to note that Nakamura-sensei's eyes held bright hunger as well. 

"Ohhh, Ran, Aoko, look!" Kazuha pointed out the window at a maze of greenery. "Isn't that beautiful?" It was, too. An emerald set amid a riot of autumn colors. Somewhere near the center I caught a glimpse of something gleaming white. 

As the girls leaned out the window to stare down at the thick walls of hedge, Conan, Kuroba and I glanced at each other and I felt a brief moment of camaraderie as we grinned with amusement. Though the moment passed, I thought I might have more in common with Kuroba than he or I might like to admit. 

"The maze. I'm afraid it's off limits right now. The gardener hasn't had a chance to finish trimming the center and it's quite overgrown," Wanabe said regretfully. 

"Is that where" Fujiwara-san began and his boss gave him a sharp look that caused the young man to go silent. 

A slight movement from Kuroba drew my attention and I realized he was more interested in the subject than he was admitting. I couldn't help testing the theory by asking, "That artifact again?" in as brash and obvious a manner as possible. From the slight wince Kuroba gave, I thought I may well have scored. 

"I'm afraid it's not your business, Hattori-kun," Wanabe said condescendingly. "The item in question is quite valuable, you see, and we can't afford to say anything more about it than we already have." 

I shrugged. "All right. I don't care if it's the Crown jewels or Betty Burke's sword, frankly." I was a bit surprised that Nakamura looked puzzled. _That's the second time he's acted like he didn't understand something I said about England. What sort of scholar is he?_ Admittedly, his apparent confusion the night before might have been simple surprise at my knowing a bit of old English esoterica, but surely he knew the name Bonnie Prince Charlie used in one of his most famous escapes. I decided not to worry about it just yet. Later, when there was time, I'd have to have Conan contact Agasa-hakase and ask for a background check. 

"Come," the lawyer said firmly. "We still have the tower and the dungeon." 

*** 

Drat. Subtlety isn't your strong suit, is it, Hattori?_ He shoved his hands in his pockets and followed the group, not sure if he was more annoyed with Hattori or with himself. After all, curiosity was a vital part of a detective's personality and the Osaka-ko may have merely been as interested in the secret Wanabe was trying to hide as he was himself, _if for different reasons._ The trouble was, if Hattori and Conan really did suspect something was up, he may have failed the test. He couldn't help but listen with ears perked momentarily in the hopes of learning the truth about the artifact, after all. Still, the conversation had served some purpose. He now knew Nakamura-sensei had to be there to check the thing out. _Which means it must have something to do with English history, the question is, what? And who the devil is Betty Burke? 

To Be Continued...

Authorial Note:   
(1) Before you ask, I made up the title. Still, you should find the Black Dog mentioned fairly frequently in books about ghosts and hauntings.


	4. Truth, Lies & Audio Tape

Nor'hanger Abbey   
A Detective Conan Fanfic   
By   
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown 

Acknowledgements:   
All usual disclaimers regarding ownership of Detective Conan and related characters apply. This stuff is copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho. 

Much thanks to Ysabet and Ryo Hoshi for their beta-reads, without which I'd probably have far too many spelling, continuity and grammatical errors. 

* * *

_Chapter 4: Truth, Lies and Audio Tape – In which Ran regrets her decision to hunt ghosts._

When evening fell we still had seen no sign of Toda-san. In a way it was a relief to realize that – at least so far – the only ghosts I'd seen had been the few old spirits that wandered the halls aimlessly, their needs long since forgotten. It was also a relief not to see that damned dog again, since I wasn't sure I could maintain my composure in its presence, especially now that I'd remembered what an ill-omened beastie it was. 

"Now then," Wanabe said as we finished a much less elaborate meal than the night before. "Heidi will be bringing out the equipment and each of you will be assigned an area of the house. You can, of course, decline to join in the game but Miss Abe is hoping that" 

"Speaking of Miss Abe," James Aden spoke up suddenly and a bit surprisingly, for he and his wife had been silent and wrapped up in each other the entire afternoon, "We haven't seen her all day. Is she all right?" 

I glanced over at Conan and the two of us turned our gaze towards the attractive blonde entering the room with a cart. She blinked at us, innocently, and we gave her what I knew to be identically knowing grins. A slow, conspiratorial, smile crossed her face and we kept our silence as Wanabe said, "Miss Abe was called away, Mr. Aden. She plans to return tomorrow morning." 

"Oh how disappointing. We were so looking forward to spending some time with her," Sara Aden said, looking down. "She's such a wonderful actress." 

Wanabe made soothing sounds. "I'm sure she'll be glad to take some time to talk with you two when she returns," he said reassuringly. "Now then, let's go over the equipment and your assignments." 

Nakamura coughed. "You surely don't expect me to join in this nonsense." 

"Oh, no. Of course not." Wanabe smiled. "You and I can discuss the artifact while the others are busy. Perhaps, though, your assistant would like to join the Adens? We'd planned on groups of three but with Toda-san missing" 

*** 

_As they prepared to take up their posts, he watched Conan and Hattori's behavior closely. The two seemed to be up to something, a query to Agasa-hakase, by the fact that they snuck off briefly to use Conan's little ear-phone device. He wasn't able to get close enough to hear much without making his curiosity obvious, but he did pick up the name Nakamura and Tokyo University. He wondered what it was the professor had done to earn their suspicion. _That conversation earlier, no doubt, though I have no idea why.

*** 

Half an hour later Conan, Kuroba and I stood at the doorway into the bell tower. "Well, Heiji-niichan," Conan said, looking at the recorder in his hand, then at me, "Should we?" 

I looked back at him, then at the extremely casual Kuroba. _I have such a _bad_ feeling about this,_ I thought, even as I nodded. "Let's see. There's supposed to be a monk who hung himself from the bell-tower rope in the fourteenth century, right?" 

"That's what Wanabe-san said," Kuroba confirmed, oddly subdued. "No details on why, though." He was carrying the sensor device, a combination temperature and EMG reader that was apparently all the rage among ghost-hunters. "Not that it matters, I guess." 

I shrugged. "Doubt it does." I opened the door to the staircase and started up, my flashlight casting wild and misshapen shadows against the walls, giving the feeling of movement where there was none. I had a flash of childhood memory, a similar room in the attic of our house and the way I'd dared myself to visit it despite the fear it'd instilled in me. _Hey, I think I'm getting better at this,_ I thought, though I wasn't at all sure what I'd do if we ran into the dog again. 

At the top of the stairs was a trap door that I pushed open carefully. Outside, the fresh night air held the tang of wood smoke and falling leaves. The moon, just past full now, was still bright enough to cast everything into sharp relief. Far below us, the maze was a shadowy confusion, the overgrown hedges twisting in on themselves in a riot of light and dark. At the center was a white area, too distant to make out clearly. _A building? _

"See anyone?" Kuroba asked and I shook my head. "Wow. This place is bigger than I thought." He leaned down and helped Conan up onto the bench so he could look out at the building below. "Hey, I bet I could make it down onto the roof from here." 

"I'm sure you could, Kuroba," I muttered. "Dare I hope you might end up falling on your fool butt in the process?" 

"Hey!" Kuroba grinned cockily at me. "I'm better at climbing than _that_." He paused, glancing down at his device, "Uh I'm getting readings." 

I looked around the bell-tower, pretending to scan it with my camera. There was nothing there and I shook my head. "I don't think there's anything." 

"I'm not lying! Take a look." Kuroba held out the device, showing the gauges flickering wildly. "It's picking up something." He grabbed at my hand to force me to take the thing and I pulled away just barely in time. "Aw, c'mon Hattori. Don't be that way. Look, I'm sorry if I rub you the wrong way. I do that a lot." 

I glared at him, surreptitiously turning on Agasa-Hakase's toy. "Yeah. Okay. Sorry." Taking the device he held out again, I was very relieved that the watch did its job perfectly. Aside from that annoying tingle and slight static shock it apparently gave Kuroba, I picked up nothing. "Let's see where the readings get strongest." 

*** 

_Watching Hattori and rubbing his fingers slightly, he frowned. Hattori didn't strike him as the practical joking type and a mild bit of static scarcely qualified as a way to get back at someone for annoying you. Yet he'd _seen_ the Osaka-ko do something to his watch just before taking the device – something he was certain caused that brief sensation of sticking one's hand into a stack of fresh dried clothing. _And his expression when I tried to shove the thing at him. He didn't want me to touch him and I don't think it had anything to do with how much he dislikes me._ Shaking his head, he followed the other two over to the far corner of the bell tower._

*** 

The readings went wild at the north side of the bell tower. Temperature supposedly dropped and EMG went off the scale. The only trouble was that I knew perfectly well there was nothing there. Looking at Conan, I raised a brow and muttered, "Trust me to hold on tight?" 

"I dunno," he muttered back. "There's nothing on this side, so okay. But I don't want a repeat of that time at the Morizono's." 

Grimacing at the memory, I grasped his hands and lowered him over the edge. If Ran had been there, of course, she'd have killed me, but curiosity as to how Abe-san had achieved this effect had the both of us in its grip. 

Kuroba moved, grabbing Conan by the belt and holding on. "Belt and suspenders," he said to me. "Man, kid. You are getting big!" 

I knew Conan wanted very badly to say something snide in return, so I did it for him. "What do you expect him to do? Shrink? He's a growing boy." I glanced down at my friend. "See anything?" 

"Yep. Right here." Conan slid one hand free of my grasp and I moved my grip to just under his arm. A bit of fiddling and he pulled a tiny device free of the stones. "Pull me up." 

Once he was on solid ground again, the three of us looked at the device. "Agasa-hakase would have to look at it, of course, but I bet it's sending signals to that," Conan said, pointing at the device Kuroba had been given. "And there's no real guarantee that thing is measuring what they said it would, is there?" 

"Nope," I agreed, brushing off my trousers. "Well, this is a bust, I guess. Agreed that we don't tell everyone? I mean, Abe-san's just having some fun." 

Conan looked doubtful. "It's a hoax, though" 

"But it's a fun hoax and no one's getting hurt. There's no such thing as ghosts anyway," Kuroba answered as he headed for the stairs and I couldn't help but mutter, "I only wish," in Conan's ear. 

Conan grinned at me and nodded. "Well all right. I guess." 

*** 

_Pretending not to have heard Hattori's whisper to his friend, he contemplated what he'd learned about the detective. _A lot of things, actually. All speculation._ Least important was the fact that Hattori knew who Conan really was. Going along with that was the obvious point that the two were good friends. Good enough and trusting enough in each other that Conan would let the brash Osaka-ko do things like hold him out over a twenty foot drop with only a mild uncertainty. That closeness meant Conan almost certainly knew whatever secret it was Hattori hid. He suspected that Agasa-hakase might as well – that little device Hattori wore was suggestive of the professor's work. _As for the secret itself I think I know what it is._ If he was right, though, if Hattori Heiji truly did have an affinity of some sort for the supernatural, it wasn't something that ought to be a problem. After all, for all that he was sometimes referred to as the 'Phantom Thief' he was very much alive. _The only question is, what use is that device of his? Is there an aspect to his 'talent' that I don't understand yet? 

*** 

Downstairs was quiet. Quiet, that was, except the sound of a scream that sent the three of us rushing for the basement stairs. Unfortunately, I was the first one there, which meant that I was the one who nearly got slammed into the wall when I reached out for the door and it opened. 

"HEY, you AHOU," I growled at Kazuha as she skidded to a halt and was promptly run into by Ran and Aoko close behind. To my surprise, she dropped her flashlight and grabbed me, burying her face in my shirt. _Oh wow._ Agasa-hakase's little toy only protected my hand and part of my arm, which meant I got a full kick-in-the-face powerful dose of Kazuha's fear and need for protection. She didn't usually need it and it shocked me. "Hey Hush. What happened?" 

It was Ran, who'd grabbed Conan up in much the same terrified need for comfort, who spoke. "G ghost Downstairs." 

"Ran-neechan! You're squishing me," Conan protested, but I saw the way his hand went to stroke her shoulder and his frustrated and angry expression. At least _I_ could comfort my girl. It didn't help that even Kuroba was getting to do the same for Aoko. 

I winced for his anguish and pushed Kazuha back ever so slightly, though I let her hold my protected hand, pretending not to notice. "Tell us." I was beginning to regret the decision to keep quiet about Abe-san's game. It was one thing when the marks enjoyed it, but the girls were obviously terrified. _Of course, I'm forgetting that Ran really is scared of ghosts. Her fear probably isn't helping matters._

"Here! Listen!" Ran held out her recorder and played it back. Her voice came through loud and clear for a moment, saying "Is anyone here? Who are you? Do you want anything? Do you want us to leave?" A moment later a hoarse male voice said, "Just get out!" 

I looked at Conan and Kuroba and we simultaneously headed downstairs(1). 

In the wine-cellar I paused and looked around – nothing in sight. Conan held out his recorder with a raised brow and I nodded, asking, "Is someone here? Do you want us to leave?" When the message was played back I wasn't at all surprised to hear a tired voice saying "Yes," in response. I wondered how Abe-san had done it this time and went in further, only to come to a halt as I found myself face to non-existent face with the black dog. Again. 

*** 

_This time he fully expected another trick. He looked around the darkened basement, at the dusty racks of wine-bottles and the clay floor, then watched Hattori, whose expression held a world of disdain. As they repeated the experiment and received much the same answer as before, Hattori rolled his eyes. _ Just a trick, then,_ he thought and shrugged, almost disappointed. _Or not._ Hattori had paused and there was something about the way the young detective was standing The serious expression and sense that he was looking at something that others couldn't see. Something that he was just barely managing to face without running in terror._

*** 

Holding my ground, I glared at the dog. I would have loved to give it a piece of my mind, since it seemed to be choosing me in particular for its appearances. Instead I stood stock still and waited to see what the thing would do. 

For a long moment we had a stand off. Then the dog moved towards me, ever so slowly, its body radiating menace. _No thanks, you annoying little yappy dog,_ I thought, though I feared nothing so much as having to touch it. _I ain't going just cause you're standing there growling at me. I don't believe you can hurt me._

"Uh Hattori?" Conan's voice was worried and I barely noticed that he'd forgotten to call me niichan, though Kuroba was still with us. "You okay?" 

"In a moment," I answered quietly as the dog came to a halt a few feet from me. I clenched my fists and my teeth. To my surprise, it turned and headed across the room towards the wall, stopping and 'looking' back my way as if expecting me to follow. Then it walked through the wall and disappeared. "Oh man." 

"What was it?" it was Kuroba who spoke and I barely remembered to keep my mouth shut, still being too confused by what had just happened. "Hattori?" 

"I thought I saw someone," I said. "Must have been a trick of the light." I went to the wall and looked at it for a long moment. When I felt a faint breath of chill air brush my face I realized there was something beyond. Not sure why I was doing so, I examined the wall with my fingers and was somehow unsurprised when a piece of stone moved beneath my hand and a concealed doorway swung open. 

Conan trotted forward and shone his light down the passageway. "Look, Heiji-niichan," he said softly, pointing to an object glittering on the ground. I picked it up and recognized it immediately as the brooch that had pinned Toda-san's gaudy silk scarf the night before. 

"Fake," Kuroba muttered from behind me. "But it's hers, all right." 

Though I wondered how he knew the gem was fake, I didn't bother asking. Instead I went to the stairway. "Kazuha. You, Ran and Aoko go to the waiting room. There's a passage here that looks suspicious and I'm going to check it out." 

"But" 

"I've got my cell-phone," I pointed out, neglecting to mention that it probably wouldn't work too well underground, "Don't worry. If we run into trouble you're our back-up." Before they could protest more, I headed into the passage, closely followed by Conan and Kuroba. 

*** 

_As they entered the passage he reflected that the girls were going to be horribly annoyed with them for this. Especially since Conan had come along. Still, he couldn't help but agree with Hattori's decision not to include them. They had no idea what lay ahead. If they ran into trouble, the girls were the only ones who knew where they were. _And why am I going along with this in any case? I should be investigating that artifact whatsis, not playing detective with these two._ He knew why, though. Curiosity was a strong component of his own personality, even if it didn't take the same form as it did for the other two, and he still sensed there were secrets to be learned. _Hopefully curiosity won't kill the cat, this time. 

*** 

Walking slowly along the passage, I spotted the black dog moving ahead of us. It would stop every so often, slowing enough to permit us to catch up. The blasted thing _was_ leading me somewhere and I really hoped it wasn't straight into trouble. I also hoped that the fact that I'd found Toda-san's brooch didn't mean I was going to find Toda-san's ghost as well. 

"Smells like we're close to outside," Kuroba commented from beside me as the dog trotted up a set of stairs. "From the direction The maze?" 

Conan and I nodded in agreement. The slow twists and turns of the passage did appear to bring us out somewhere inside the maze. At its center, I rather suspected and was unsurprised to find myself opening a trap door and climbing out into a moonlit courtyard in front of a stone structure. 

"It looks a bit like a Greek temple," Conan said softly and I nodded in agreement. There were several stone columns holding up a roof of the same white material. Atop the roof was a statue of a woman drawing back her bow. "What's inside?" 

"A tomb," Kuroba answered. "At least that's what it looks like." 

I shone my light on the structure. Beneath the roof was a square stone box with a human figure in armor carved onto it. I stepped forward, noting that the dog was gone. _Is this what it wanted me to find?_ I wondered, examining the thing closely. "Hey, Kuroba. Help me push." 

"You're going to open it? What if" 

"It's been opened recently," I replied coolly, beginning to shove at the stone lid. The thing was slightly askew and I could see fresh scratches in the stone edges of the box. With Conan holding the light and Kuroba beside me, we shoved as hard as we could. 

The resulting crack was just wide enough to see into the crypt and when Conan shown his light in I cursed angrily. Toda-san was lying inside, sprawled within with blood on her temple. "My hand's skinnier," Kuroba said, sticking it in and feeling around. "She's alive, but she can't be in good shape." 

Conan paused, looking torn. "I'll run back for Ran," he said finally, though it was obvious he longed to stay. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot he could do in his current shape. "You two keep trying to get that lid up." 

"Okay." I paused and added, "Be careful." He nodded and ran off. 

*** 

_He leaned against the lid, pushing as hard as he possibly could, almost as angry as Hattori. He was a thief but he wasn't a killer and he would _never_ leave a person to die like this. _And what else could the person who did this have meant? It's cold out here and she's got that injury to make it worse._ He glanced sideways at the enraged Osaka-ko and was very glad not to be the focus of that fury. If anything, it made the dog from the night before seem gentle. Suddenly the lid gave way and he found himself sprawled in a heap against the detective, their limbs entangled in a confused mess. To his surprise, Hattori stiffened utterly and his eyes widened as they stared at each other. Then Hattori spoke. "Kaito Kid."_

To Be Continued:

Authorial Notes:   
(1) This really happened to a ghost-hunting friend of mine.


	5. Revelations

Nor'hanger Abbey   
A Detective Conan Fanfic   
By   
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown 

Acknowledgements:   
All usual disclaimers regarding ownership of Detective Conan and related characters apply. This stuff is copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho. 

Much thanks to Ysabet and Ryo Hoshi for their beta-reads, without which I'd probably have far too many spelling, continuity and grammatical errors. 

* * *

_Chapter 5: Revelations – In which entirely too many secrets are revealed _

Kuroba leapt off me so fast I thought he was going to go through the hedge. He was standing in the shadows, his face obscured. Even though he was wearing street clothes, the pale moonlight seemed to turn his outfit into the white tuxedo he wore when he 'worked'. "What?" he stammered. 

The images were still hammering through my brain. Images that showed me his true nature. I pulled myself to my feet and wondered what I should do. He was staring at me with utter shock and not a bit of panic. _And I can't blame him._ I took a deep breath. "Kid, you're a pain. This is a fine time for you to trip over your own two feet!" 

"What did you call me?" 

I blinked at him innocently. "Call you?" 

"You You didn't?" He paused. Stared at me. Shook his head hard. "No. No. I'm not going to let you pull a fast one. You know who I am. I don't know how. Maybe it has to do with your other talent, but you know!" 

I went silent. So he'd been watching me. No great surprise that he would. A guy who lives on his wits the way he had to would have no choice but to be keeping an eye on someone acting as weird as I was. "Does it matter how?" I said finally and leaned into the crypt. "I can't prove it. C'mon, Kuroba. Help me get her inside. She's freezing." 

*** 

_The trip back to the main house was a silent one. For one thing, Toda-san was no light-weight and most of their breath was needed to assist in the effort of carrying her. For another, neither really knew what to say to the other. _At least I don't think he knows what to say,_ the young thief thought. _Neither do I for that matter._ It was strange, immeasurably so, to find himself working in tandem with someone who by all rights would be an enemy. Someone who, under ordinary circumstances, would be doing his level best to capture him. Someone who, despite all that, _knew_ the truth. Oh, Hakuba and Akako believed, though they couldn't prove it. Hattori Heiji, on the other hand, knew who he was beyond all shadow of doubt. _I should be running. I should be making tracks so fast I'd leave skid marks in the air. 

*** 

As we lowered Toda-san onto the couch her eyelids fluttered slightly before she fell back into unconsciousness. Conan hurried into the room with a blanket and covered her up, while Ran examined her forehead. "She's going to need a doctor, soon," she said softly. "I'll go call" 

I stopped her. "Use my cell-phone," I told her. "And we all stay in this room." Someone had knocked Toda-san out and stuck her in that crypt. Somebody who hadn't meant her to be found and had probably meant her to die. Somebody who was probably still in the abbey and a danger to the rest of us. 

"But" 

"Please, Ran-neechan. I'm a little scared." Conan tugged at Ran's hand and held onto her fingers. Oh, I didn't doubt he was a bit frightened, but for Ran, not for himself. Ran smiled down at him and stroked his hair lightly in a comforting gesture. 

"I don't understand. What's worrying you, Heiji," Kazuha demanded. 

I told her point blank. "There's a would-be murderer here. Someone tried to kill her. They may try and kill us because we found her." The girls' expressions hardened as comprehension hit. "We didn't find her just flopped out in the maze. She was hidden in a crypt. Someone didn't want her found." 

Ran gave the other two girls a sharp determined look. "We don't let anyone else in here unless Hattori figures out who the killer is." 

"What killer?" The speaker was Wanabe-san, walking into the room with a casual air. "What's all the excite TODA-SAN!" 

I gotta give those three girls credit. The understanding that there was a killer in the house, and that that killer might be any one of the adults made them pull together. Ran moved to one side, Kazuha to the other, with Aoko just behind the couch. They didn't take up defensive postures, but I knew they wouldn't let Wanabe, or anyone for that matter, touch Toda-san. 

Standing up, partially blocking Wanabe's view, I grabbed my hat and pulled it brim forward. Then I stuck my hands in my pockets as I eyed the lawyer. Conan was moving into position near something he could kick and Kuroba – well I had no idea what he'd do, but I expected it to be spectacular and possibly aggravating. "Yeah," I said. "We found her in the maze." 

He looked puzzled and very confused. "The maze? But the maze is blocked off. There's no way through to the center." 

I raised a brow, glancing at Kuroba and Conan with a faintly amused grin. "Did I _say_ it was at the center?" 

"I'm absolutely certain you didn't, Hattori-kun," he answered, grinning back at me. "Why did you think that we found her there, Wanabe-san?" 

Wanabe started to stammer. "I just meant that it was blocked all the way to the center" he started to protest, but the mockery in my eyes stopped him. "All right. You have me. You found the secret passage, didn't you?" He shoved his hands into his pockets and watched me with a cocky grin. "Bunch of kids poking your noses where you don't belong." 

I shrugged. "Maybe, but it's a good thing we did. Toda-san would be dead now, otherwise." That shocked him and I realized, "Oh. You thought she _was_ dead." 

The lawyer managed to regain his good humor. "That's right. I did. So I had to get her out of the way. We couldn't afford to have the police in on this and it was obvious from what she said to you that she'd guessed something." 

It didn't surprise me that he said 'we'. I'd expected he wasn't the only one involved in whatever was up at the abbey, but what _did_ surprise me was the voice that came from behind us. "It would, after all, have ruined our plans." Nakamura-sensei's voice. Its accent had thickened, become sharper and heavier. A street-punk accent. "Don't move. Any of you, or the girl gets it." 

I looked, slowly, over my shoulder and winced. We should have realized the passage downstairs wasn't the only one. A secret door had opened behind Aoko and she was now grasped tightly in the crook of Nakamura's elbow, his other hand clenching a knife to her throat. I wasn't surprised that he was involved in whatever crime they were up to. His curious behavior earlier had set off alarm bells, after all, despite Agasa-hakase telling Conan that the man was indeed a professor of English History at Tokyo University. I would have bet my hat that the man calling himself Nakamura was someone entirely different. 

Kuroba's expression stayed ingenuous, but I could see a slight tensing in his manner. His hands stayed out in the open, though. He wouldn't dare make a move unless and until it was certain to do the trick. Aoko's eyes met mine and though she was obviously scared, she was fighting to keep her calm, to wait for a moment when we could save her. Provided, of course, that such a moment came. 

*** 

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!_ He watched Aoko with a sense of impotency. These two had the upper hand for the moment and it was his fault. He'd been casing this place. If anyone should have known that passage was there, it was him. _How could I have missed the damned thing?_ He eyed Hattori, knew the Osaka-ko was thinking as rapidly as he was, as rapidly as Conan had to be. The trouble was, they would have to work together and they would have to do it right without any knowledge of what was on each other's minds. _So wait, Kid. Wait for your chance and grab it when it comes. The way you always do when the luck of the draw goes against you. 

*** 

The door opened and two figures walked in. James and Sarah Aden. Their reaction, or lack thereof, told me they were in up to their earlobes, so I wasn't at all surprised when James-san said, "Oh, lovely. How do you propose we clean _this_ mess up, Wanabe? They aren't all going to fit into the crypt." 

"Good question," Wanabe answered. "I figure we'll have to lock them up somewhere until we've gotten the cash from Abe-san. Once we've done that, we get the hell out of here. 300 million in American money will get us pretty far before this bunch of meddlers get to the police." 

"Aren't you assuming we'll cooperate?" I asked softly. 

"You will if you don't want the little girl hurt," Nakamura said, tightening his grip on Aoko's throat and grinning at me. I looked over at Kuroba and could see Conan beyond. Neither of them seemed ready to cave in. We might not know each other's minds, but we were on the same wavelength. This bunch had been willing to try and kill Toda-san. Her comment to me could have been read as anything, but, "The wicked flee where no man pursueth," I muttered in English and saw both Kuroba and Conan nod ever so slightly. They knew as well as I did that if we cooperated the criminals would still kill us. 

"What are you talking about, brat?" Nakamura demanded. 

I shrugged. "If you really were a professor of English History you'd be able to speak the language better," I answered and something lit up in Kuroba's eyes. He'd had a thought, I realized. 

*** 

_The first thing that had to happen was freeing Aoko. He felt the comforting presence of his card-gun beneath his jacket and glanced sharply at Hattori as James moved towards the Osaka-ko. "English isn't my language, but what was it Napoleon said? Après moi, les deluge," he said, praying that Hattori's apparent skill with languages had extended itself to French as well as English. James stopped and stared at him, "That's French," the blonde protested _

_He slapped his forehead in an exaggerated gesture of disgust. "Oh. Yeah, I guess you're right." Then he fired his card gun - drawn in that moment of distraction - the ammunition burying itself in Nakamura's knife hand. Startled, Nakamura's hand jerked just enough to give Aoko her chance. He had no doubt she'd take it._

*** 

With a yell that split the ears, Aoko grabbed Nakamura's arm, twisted it into a lock and made a single sharp move that dropped him to the ground. I made my move then, together with Ran, and James fell to a simultaneous kick and punch. Meanwhile, Kazuha had made for Wanabe, only to come to a skidding halt as the door broke open and Fujiwara came in, gun held out and ready. "Oh crap." I muttered. "Hold on, Kazuha." She was too close. Too damned close. I felt my heart sink at the thought of what was about to happen. Not even Conan, his hand on the button of his gym shoe that set off its power mode, could possibly move fast enough to save her, I feared. He froze. 

Wanabe breathed a sigh of relief. "There you are. I was afraid you'd gotten lost. You're just in time." 

"Yeah, it looks like I am," Fujiwara agreed. "Though it doesn't look like I was all that necessary after all." He aimed the gun straight at Wanabe. "You're under arrest, Wanabe Shiro. For theft. For attempted fraud and attempted murder. Oh, yes, and smuggling and/or forgery." 

Wanabe's eyes bugged out and he stepped backwards. "You you're" 

"That's right. I'm with the police – Detective Futaba Akashio, at your service. I've been investigating you bunch ever since Abe-san came to us with her concerns over your professional behavior. It seems she suspected you were trying to scam her with various English treasures that you'd supposedly discovered in the process of assisting with the restoration of the house." 

"You made your biggest mistake telling me that the jewelry had been found in the maze crypt," Heidi, or rather Abe Hiromi, said, taking off her platinum wig and revealing the thick black curls beneath. "You forget that grandpapa used to have me stay here every summer. The maze was the best hide-n-seek place ever, so he had the gardeners take the lid off to make sure I wouldn't accidentally get trapped inside. Overprotective of course. That thing's too heavy for a little girl to move, but I used to pretend it was a boat and go sailing down the Nile. Nothing was there then." She smiled at us. "I really am sorry, children. If I'd known they'd get this violent I'd never have let him invite you. He said it would be great fun to have guests hunting for ghosts. I guess he did it to help cover up what he was up to." 

"So," Kuroba said softly, drifting towards the window, "What was the artifact anyway?" 

"A fifteenth century crown set with rubies and diamonds," Abe-san said, smiling at him. "But I don't think it's real. Nakamura-sensei was supposed to check it out for me, but since Wanabe-san hired him" 

"In other words, a fraud." Conan moved slightly and I could see him lining up a shot. "And a thief along with him." 

I moved, ever so slightly, out of the way. While I wasn't going to help Conan on this one, I wouldn't interfere, either. We both would have suspected Kuroba even if I _hadn't_ managed to learn his secret. The rest was up to the Kid to handle. 

Kuroba grinned broadly at Conan. "You really can be such an annoyance," he said lightly. "Hey, Aoko," he called over to his companion as she rose up from the floor, having well and truly subdued her attacker. "Apologize to your friend for me, would you? I had to knock him out for a while." 

"Friend? What? Who" Then realization hit. "You're" 

With a sharp movement, the Kaito Kid shot out the lamp above us with his card gun. A moment later, in the darkness, I heard a small rough sound, like fabric rubbing harsh against fabric, then the sound of piece of wood striking and shattering the window. A flicker of moonlight caught and glittered against a monocle and gleamed on a white top-hat. "Sorry, little guy. Not this time," he said mockingly. "Give my regards to your father, Aoko-kun!" There was a flurry of white, then the Kid was gone, disappearing into the shadows like the ghost he was sometimes called. 

*** 

_He blinked up into the light at the group of people staring down at him. He was in a closet, bound by a rope and wearing nothing but his underwear. "Hey, Aoko. What's up?" he demanded, smiling nervously around. "And what am I doing in here?" Conan's eyes were the ones he most wanted to fool, though, for Aoko didn't want to believe in his true identity. Even then he wasn't sure he'd managed, but it was obvious from the shrunken detective's demeanor that he'd decided to accept the apparent truth that Kuroba Kaito had been impersonated by the Kid in order to permit the well-known thief a chance to case what might be his next theft. _As for Hattori I have a feeling he's not so easily convinced. 

*** 

The next day was a quiet one. Abe-san was thrilled with the recordings the girls had come up with and though I suspected Wanabe might have been behind them, I decided not to comment. No point in disappointing them. As for Conan, for someone who'd missed another chance at the Kaito Kid, he was doing okay. So I used the time to find a quiet moment up in the bell-tower in the last hour before our departure, waiting for Kuroba to decide if he wanted to talk to me. 

"So." 

"So," I said in return, as the nuisance set the trap door down and took up a seat on the balustrade across from me. 

"What happened to you?" 

I shrugged. "It's not your business really." 

"Neither is your knowing mine," he said grimly and I knew he was disturbed and still upset by that fact. I couldn't blame him. It was pretty certain I wasn't feeling much better about it. 

"True. But some of it isn't my secret. Suffice to say, I got drugged with something that did something to my mind. As you've already guessed, I see ghosts. Real honest-to-goodness ghosts. Another side-effect is that I can read things about a person by touching them." I gave Kuroba a long, measuring look. "Which, as I'm sure you can guess, means I know last night's drama in your bedroom was a load of hooey." 

Kuroba grimaced. "Aoko would have started suspecting. I'm sure you know what it's like, not wanting your girl to know." He laughed suddenly. "My girl. She'd brain me if she heard me call her that." 

"So would Kazuha. So would Ran," I agreed, knowing that he knew about Conan. "We three seem to have a lot in common." 

"What are you going to do?" 

I stood up, looked out onto the sunlit maze. "Nothing. I found out in the most unfair way possible. Conan might not agree, of course, but I don't feel it's right solving a case by touching the criminal and getting what amounts to a confession without so much as a by-your-leave." There was another reason and I said, slowly, "Besides I'm not sure I want to arrest you." I'd seen the reasons he was doing what he was doing, and though his methods were more than slightly illegal, I wasn't absolutely certain I considered them immoral. "Again, Conan probably wouldn't agree. That's why I'm not going to tell him. If he figures out the trick you played, that's up to him. I wouldn't put it past him, though. Be very careful around him for a while, Kid." 

"I intend to be." He leaned against the balustrade beside me. "Uh, Hattori, that crack I made earlier? About Toda-san being a ghost? I would _never_ have said something like that if I'd known. I'm glad she didn't become one." 

"Yeah, I sorta guessed that. And you were trying to get my goat, weren't you? Trying to figure out what was up with me, and testing out what buttons to push. It worked, too, just better than you'd expected, right?" At his nod, I sighed. "Don't sweat it, Kuroba. I don't think I like you very much, but I'm not holding a grudge at the moment. Just don't make fun of ghosts around me again and we'll be okay." 

He went silent. Then, "I suppose you don't want me to go to Osaka, either?" 

With a look of faked surprise, I shook my head. "Why ever not? Come to Osaka. Give me a reason to help my father catch you. I'll be right there, ready to salt your tail feathers for you." 

He stared at me, then started to laugh. Perforce, so did I. 

*** 

So. Yet another challenge, the more so because he knows who I am._ He climbed into Aoko's father's car with a thoughtful air and barely listened to the two talking, Nakamori-san clearly becoming more and more enraged as he realized that the Kaito Kid had been hanging around _his_ little girl and pretending to be her friend. _Though I think he'll be fair. No attempts to catch me using his special knowledge._ It occurred to him that Hattori had felt a bit sorry for him, that he knew far more about what went inside the Kaito Kid's head than anyone other than the Kid, himself. Knew the pain and hurt and anger hidden beneath the humor. _And I'm not sure I like that._ He sighed. There wasn't any point in getting upset over it. Hattori knew and that was that. He knew what Hattori was, after all, so it wasn't like they weren't somewhat even. If anything, he felt a touch of pity for the Osaka-ko and knew Hattori wouldn't appreciate it. _Not,_ he thought, grinning to himself, _that I won't take him up on that sweet little challenge of his. Salt my tail feathers, will he? 

To Be Concluded...


	6. Epilogue

Nor'hanger Abbey   
A Detective Conan Fanfic   
By   
Deborah (Kosagi) Brown 

Acknowledgements:   
All usual disclaimers regarding ownership of Detective Conan and related characters apply. This stuff is copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho. 

Much thanks to Ysabet and Ryo Hoshi for their beta-reads, without which I'd probably have far too many spelling, continuity and grammatical errors. 

* * *

_Epilogue: In which Ai and Heiji continue their argument about the existence of ghosts _

"Don't you see? That dog you saw proves nothing," Ai said in an annoyed tone as Agasa-hakase worked on the strength of signal his watch was sending out. "It could be your own mind creating an image from your childhood as a warning that something horrible is about to happen. After all, if it really was this Black Dog you claim, wouldn't there have been a real death? Toda-san is alive and well because you listened to your instinct instead of running from a ill-omen." 

I sighed. "Okay. I can grant you that," I said slowly. "There's just one thing." 

"Yes?" Ai perched on her stool and glared at me. She so hated the idea of admitting to the supernatural. 

"If it's something my mind created to warn me of something bad," I asked, gazing down between us. "Why the HELL is it following me around?" 

On the floor, my new found companion sat up and panted at me happily, an action that would have been so much less worrisome if it had bothered to find a head. 

The End.

Authorial Notes:  
- I have absolutely no idea yet if the dog is 'real' or a by-product of Heiji's talent.

- I promise, next story concentrates more on Heiji and Kazuha. Conan and Kaito may not show up at all.

- I would have put more Kaito in, but I just couldn't figure out a way to do it without getting sidetracked. I have a story in the works for him though, I promise, Ysabet.


End file.
